• Posted: May 6, 2021
• better construction, Chicago Smart Lighting Program, City of Chicago, Electrical Contractor magazine, John Burns Construction Company (JBCC), LED street lighting

Powering Chicago contractors deliver better construction throughout the City of Chicago and suburban Cook County day in and day out, 365 days per year. An example of that, when the City of Chicago decided to transition to LED street lighting, Powering Chicago member contractor John Burns Construction Company (JBCC) of Orland Park, Ill, was tapped for the swap out. The first-of-its-kind project was featured in the April 2021 issue of Electrical Contractor magazine in a story by Jeff Gavin.

Beginning in 2017 and expected to conclude in fall 2021, the Chicago Smart Lighting Program will replace 80 percent of the city’s high-pressure sodium (HPS) fixtures with energy-efficient LED counterparts. For JBCC, the program will take an estimated 170,000 labor hours as they learn new technology to replace fixtures in streets, alleys, and viaducts. At the project’s completion, they will have replaced a total of 270,000 lights and installed more than 293,000 linear feet of permanent aerial cabling. 

“Being a part of one of the largest projects in US history has been very memorable. This project is one of the first of its kind, and with Chicago being such a big city, it’s been a very special, unique, challenging, and rewarding experience,” said Colleen Burns, Senior Project Manager at John Burns Construction Company, who is helping to guide the project to completion. 

The upgrade to LED lighting has many anticipated benefits including, increased safety, energy savings, and decreased maintenance costs. Though the modernization will cost $160 million, rebates provided through the Illinois Commerce Commission and Commonwealth Edison, Chicago are helping to subsidize the cost. Going forward, the City of Chicago expects an overall 50 percent energy savings, yielding a total dollar savings of about $100 million over 10 years. 

Thanks to the hard work of JBCC, Chicago is now one of the nation’s leaders in LED street lighting, providing safer and more efficient streets for pedestrians and drivers alike. 

“I’d like to thank Construction Manager, Ian Higgins; Project Manager, Jay Petty; Foreman, Mike Pankiewicz Foreman; and foreman, Adam Reissman who led the project for JBCC,” said Burns. “Their leadership is what truly made this such a successful project.”